Day 87: Lisse to Badhoevedorp

June 21, 2018

[Note: In Cycleblaze, entries that have been updated in the last day are marked with a green +. Today you will see lots of green +'s, but all we have done is fix some glitches in day numbering and in the number of kms cycled. Sorry!]

We had been getting to know our host, Martin, at the B&B, slowly but surely. Yesterday we learned that he had cycled from here to Portugal, and today he brought out a picture book documenting his son's round the world cycle. Martin went proudly went through all the photos from the many countries, which we naturally were very interested to see. The son had set off from this very place, but in a minute he was back - forgot his cell phone!

Martin, like so many other B&B hosts, came to the street to see us off.

By now we had the broad outlines of how to cycle from Lisse toward Amsterdam, but still our route was not quite the same. Navigation is an art when done from a bike, and Netherlands, while neat and orderly is still a complex jigsaw puzzle.

Only a small part of the trip was through what you might call wide open spaces. Mostly it was small roads by small houses. The shot below is a fair representation of the houses and also the road. We just love the two red bicycling stripes, and the narrow bit left for cars. (Beware, though, cars will use the bicycle lane if needed and if there are not cycles in it.)

30 km of pedalling brought us to the Ibis Budget, in Badhoevedorp. Badhoevedorp is a town just beside the Schiphol airport. The Ibis may use the town name in its address, but really it is an airport hotel on the road to the terminal, and is not part of the town.

We settled into our room, to wait for Erika and Marvin to arrive, on a shuttle after their 11:30 a.m. landing. The Ibis Budget really is a budget hotel, rivalling traditional French establishments for small rooms. My usual measure is the number of inches between the end of the bed and the wall, and I think here we have two feet, max. It could be worse. We have lots of space to put our four panniers down. There was one place where only two would fit. Still it's fine - hugely bigger than a tent, and much more room than in a Spanish albergue. The only thing, this is the first of 84 places that claimed they have no place to put our bikes. Consequently they are chained outside. We are glad we opted to drag around heavy chains for all these kms.

The shuttle arrived and our friends popped out. It was great to see them, from our perspective, first set foot on European soil for the beginning of their current trip. One big reason for writing this blog is the way sharing experiences enhances them. Doing that with a group of readers is good, but it is also great to have your friends right there with you.

Erika and Marvin hit the ground, even if not yet running.

Erika has brought a new piece of gear - cycling earrings!

Like many an airport hotel, the Ibis is in a desert, as far as food and services go. Right now we only have two bikes between the four of us, so a team had to be struck to go to Badhoevedorp in search of supplies. I had to be on the team, since I will cry if left out of anything, and Erika was keen to have a quick nap. So it was Marvin and me.

Each partner in our two marriages has their own super powers, but on this trip I at least have not been doing either navigation or shopping. In fact, Dodie will not let me in to a grocery store, because I firstly want to look at everything and secondly will come out with mostly junk. So putting me on a team that needs to navigate to a remote store and come back with some good choices... risky! At least I had Marvin as backup. His only problem -9 time zones of jet lag!

We did find the store, with a fair bit of squinting at the GPS. We did have to circle the store a fair bit, to find the entrance. Next the carts. There were two styles, neither of which seemed exactly obvious to us about how to use them. One was sort of shelves that held two detachable plastic baskets, and the other looked more like one of those elaborate models designed to entertain kids while at the store. We chose the latter. Marvin drove.

Maybe this cart can be made to work for us.

I think we did rather well. Marvin found some good looking strawberry tarts, and I found almond filled cookies. Oh yes, we did throw some salads in there as well.

Strawberry tarts with whipped cream - seems like a wise choice!

Erika had expressed a hankering for some real Dutch cheese. We had a choice of maturities (degree of "belegen") in what they were calling farmer ("boer") cheese. We went for "mature", because hey, we are.

Erika really appreciated the cheese, together with buns we found that were darn close to German quality ones. It was a treat to see her enjoy the European quality, so soon after stepping off the plane. Also for some reason we got no flak for the strawberry tarts or cookies. I am counting the expedition a success, though I will be glad to quit the team. My strong point is more like dawdling along behind, thinking of what part of the experience might be bloggable or not.

Bonus: Identification Section

How about this crop of flowers?

Sorry about the lack of sharpness. This was shot at quite some distance.

We have been seeing a lot of this bird in recent days:

Seems fairly common in South Holland. Likes canal areas but can be seen just out on the grass.

Today's ride: 37 km (23 miles)
Total: 5,819 km (3,614 miles)

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Stewart BradyThe bird is an oystercatcher.
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5 years ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Stewart BradyThanks for the rapid ID. The single bird pictured was later joined by 3 friends and all 4 of them were using their beaks to drill into the earth hunting for
?worms.
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5 years ago